I rushed to pack my suitcase. And then in my haste getting ready this morning I took some vitamins that I can't take until after I eat without feeling sick. So I was further slowed by that, combined with procrastinated packing.
I made it down to breakfast just at the last minute to grab a quick bite before heading out. I didn't think I had time for rice, so I made some toast and egg sandwich with some jelly. Instead of coffee, I drank some milk tea. I'm going to have to make some for myself when I get back to the US. I forgot to take a pre eating photo due to the rush, so please excuse the half eaten sandwich bit.
This morning we will go to Dazu to see the ancient stone carvings. It's about two hours from Chongqing, and I slept the entire way.
Today will definitely be an interesting day because the guys have made bets on what is going to happen today. They think that Liz and I go to the bathroom too much (if they were more hydrated, they might be more like us). There's a bet for how many times we will use the bathroom today. I don't know who bet on what numbers, but every time one of them invites us to go use the bathroom, I know they bet on a higher number. The other bet of the day is how many photos of Lil Mao I will take. In my opinion, the guidelines for what constitutes a different photo is unclear, but I guess whatever works for them. Once again, I can tell who bet high because now they're always suggesting places for Lil Mao next photo.
We walked around Dazu to see all of the stone carvings. They are all about Buddhist philosophy. The tour guide explained all of them to us, but I don't quite remember it all. I took a bunch of pictures to cover the highlights. The carvings either talk about someone's life, or outline Buddhist philosophies such as how to raise children, how to treat your parents, or reincarnation.
Lil Mao was getting pretty into the scene himself, and we had plenty of help this morning finding great photo ops. Unfortunately, most of the area was marked "Do not touch," so we didn't get all of the great pictures we wish we had.
It was so funny because while we were walking, this small group of people kept pulling us over one by one or in groups to take photos with them. I couldn't understand much of what they said, but I did hear them commenting on our height and hair. They were so happy it was hard to be less enthusiastic around them. Then as soon as the one lady would pull us over, a bunch more people would whip out their phones and join in. It all started with Liz, and I was able to get a picture of her before I got pulled into the experience as well.
The next stop was lunch. We ate at a nice restaurant in Dazu. While we ate, we talked about our names and how people always mess them up. We also asked Lotus about what our Chinese names would be. I guess Westerners usually use their same name but translated into Chinese syllables.
After lunch, it was time to go to the airport. I took a short nap, but I was having a harder time sleeping. The areas we drove through were beautiful, and I tried to take some photos of the mountain countryside. The fog makes the mountains in the background look like a watercolor painting.
We passed through some highway checkpoint at some point, and got pulled over for a routine inspection. The driver had to get out and show his paperwork. Then the officer checked the fire extinguisher. It was expired, so the driver and officer went somewhere for a few minutes. Then the driver was back and we were on the road again.
Once we got to the airport, it was time to say goodbye to Lotus. She has been so great these past few days. I really appreciate all of the time she spent showing us around, helping us with food and shopping, and hanging out with us. I had a blast at CQU, and I am even more excited now for the fall.
We got here super early, so we had plenty of time to make it through security. I had a much easier time today. No complications with the baggage scanning or pat down search. Alexia almost got her shaving cream confiscated for some reason, but that was the biggest hitch.
Since we had so much time, we went to a coffee shop in the terminal to hang out and wait for the flight. All of the drinks were so fancy and cute. And my iced coffee was excellent.
Then we made our way to the terminal to wait for the boarding call. While we were sitting, this lady comes over with a box if instant noodles and tissues and starts passing them out. Then she puts the box on the ground and people swarm, trying to get some of the free stuff. I'm not sure I understand exactly why that was happening, but I think about 5 or 6 boxes of free noodles were passed out in total.
On the plane, I sat by a really friendly guy. I thought it was a little bit awkward because his English was good and understandable, but I don't think he knew very much. He did tell me that sometimes the air in Xi'an is bad, but not like Beijing. He also really seems to love America and kept telling me how great of a country it was. I was kind of glad it was such a short flight, though, because I didn't have too much to say..
Apparently our flight landed about 30 minutes early, which is pretty nunheard of, so we had to wait for our tour guide to pick us up from the airport. So many people were staring at us as we waited. I don't mind the staring or the fact that people take pictures of us or selfies with us as the background. But some people are just a little creepy about it. One guy stood staring at us, leaning slightly in, for at least 5 minutes. He kept circling us, which was awkward and he made no attempt to make it less awkward or obvious.
Finally our guide shows up. Her name is Cathy and she did not stop talking the entire hour on the way from the airport. I fell asleep for most of it, but I did hear a good bit about Xi'an before nodding off. It used to be China's capital for several dynasties. Now, it is the cultural center for China. Beijing is the political center, Shanghai is the business center, and Xi'an is the cultural center. It is a very academic place, with more than 100 universities in the province. Teachers are very well respected. I also got the sense that she was kind of bitter toward Beijing because she was always explaining how Xi'an is older or less polluted or more beautiful... I'd be so curious to know if she picked the name Cathy, or if people just called her a Chatty Cathy and it caught on.
It was late when we got to the hotel, but we were hungry and wanted to go try some local food. Cathy gave us a few choices of places to go, and some rough directions to get there. She also warned us not to stay out late because after 11 is when the drunks and drug eaters come out. I am kind of skeptical about this claim... We think it's probably just college kids walking around.
We tried to follow Cathy's directions, but the map she drew was a little confusing compared to the actual streets.
I asked for directions a few times, but we still had a hard timing finding the restaurant. It was cool to see the people walking around at night, although I was expecting a lot more people to be out and about on a Saturday night. One concerning thing we did see was a couple walking together, but the girl kept struggling like she was trying to get away and the guy kept grabbing her. We didn't really know what was going on, and we were unable to even ask if she needed help. I wish we could have figured out what was going on, but all we can do is hope that she's okay.
Eventually we found the restaurant. The elevator to get to it was super sketchy, but the inside of the restaurant itself looks very nice. Overall, though, our mission was a pretty big failure because we had no success communicating with the staff. We got the impression that the people didn't want us there, or maybe they were closed. I tried numerous different approaches to try to get any information across, but the staff just stared blankly at us. Eventually one staff member called someone on the phone and handed it to me. The guy on the other end spoke a little tiny bit of English. He didn't know what was going on and didn't understand my explaination. Eventually we just gave up and left. I felt pretty bad that we failed so spectacularly, but I also am surprised Cathy recommended that we go to a place knowing that none of us have any kind of fluency in Mandarin. I also think that maybe we were so used to traveling with a guide or Lotus that we didn't even think twice about how it might work out.
With no other ideas, Alexia and I voted to take everyone to SulBing, a Korean dessert cafe. At least we knew that menu...
The people there were so friendly. We had to use a translator app a little bit to communicate because my Mandarin skills weren't quite enough, but everyone was super understanding and helpful. We ordered strawberry red bean bingsu, chocolate brownie bingsu, and some cheesy kimchi thing. It was so delicious. For those unfamiliar with this Korean dessert, bingsu is a frozen dessert made out of finally shaved frozen milk and topped with pretty much anything (similar to an ice cream sundae). I really love bingsu and didn't think I would be able to get it again any time soon. Even though the dinner plans didn't work out, I was quite pleased with the bingsu.
After that, it was getting late. We didn't want to run into the drug eaters, so we headed back to the hotel. Everyone we saw who were the "drug eaters" looked like college kids going to a dance club or something.
Since we didn't actually get any real dinner (unless you're like me and count bingsu as dinner), so we going to order some room service back at the hotel to supplement our meal. I really wanted to shower, and it was getting pretty late, so I was going to shower and then catch up with them. Instead, I took too long to shower, and Liz and Alexia were already back when I finished. By then we were all wiped out, and I can't even remember if I actually made it under the blanket before I fell asleep.
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